Crankie chores

I was getting a little fed up with the lack of help with the projects I could not get done myself. fixing the sound on the computer and getting the instant hot installed. Sunday morning got later and later. At 11 am I finally had enough. If I didn't get started myself I could not get these thing accomplished before going to the symphony tonight.

So, in my passive aggressive way I pounded on Trevor's door loudly waking him and everyone else in the family to roust them out of bed. I threw the new computer and accessories into their boxes, which were still sitting about. I asked Trevor to help carry everything downstairs. we were returning the computer today to Fry's.

Trevor is a little cranky at the abrupt awakening and rush out the door. Tom crawls out of bed not happy either, but he doesn't complain as I am doing something that needs to be taken care of, fixing the computer one way or another.

I was going to take the lap top also, but he says he will have someone at work look at it first. I just want to "get her done". My patience has worn out. Tom gets the message. He begins the install on the instant hot after I leave the house with Trevor and the computer.

Fry's as usual is an issue. Unless there is something wrong with the computer, and they tell me the sound works just fine, there is a 15% restocking fee. Tom spent almost $1000. they want $150 for me to return this computer. I stay calm. I have found falling apart is not efficient use of my emotions. I had gone into this trip with heart palpitations. I knew when packing up the computer it would not be easy. I have dealt with Fry's before.

First I had left the mouse at home so I have to call Tom and ask him to quickly deliver it to Fry's or they wont take the computer back at all. By the time he arrives, I have found out it is not broken. they are going to charge me for the return. I am shown the proper hole for the sound system, and opt to keep the computer rather than pay them $150. I am guessing while they were waiting they down loaded what ever was needed to get the sound working.

I do return the unopened photo printer that was part of the package deal. We don't need it and they are ink hogs. I get $30 in store credit that must be used that day. I buy extension cables and a slitter for the headsets. With our open floor plan it is nice to have the sound on headsets and not speakers competing with the TV sound. They allow me to keep the change.

I track Trevor down at the game station, checking out a road racing game in HD. It makes me nausiated just watching. Having at least gotten the sound fixed and knowing Tom is home installing the instant hot, I opt to give him a little more time to finish and take Trevor out to lunch as a treat for being my gopher today.

We are having breakfast on Tuesday for work at a restaurant in West Linn. I don't know where it is so I tell Trevor that is where we are going for lunch. I will locate it today and then I wont get lost on my way to the meeting and end up being late. Good choice, as the restaurant turns out to be on the other side of the freeway from where I thought it was. We locate it after having to ask for directions from a gas station attendant. Had I waited until Tuesday, I would have been lost and late.

Lunch was great. Trevor does his usual double cheese burger with soup. I convince him to hold off on the fries as we are going out again in a few hours for dinner. I give him most of my hash browns to stave off the complaining. I have the Rancho Huervos, which are just as they should be.

We get back to the house. Tom has the old leaky instant hot out but the new one is still not installed. I open the casing on the old box to see the damage. The whole thing is a mess of rusted out copper. No wonder it had been leaking. Tom is having difficulty with the install of the new instant hot. I knew this was a two man operation, which is why I had not addressed it myself.

I make a trip to Ace to get a couple of pieces that might help with the install. I love Ace. You walk in the door, and hold up what you have brought and say "Help". The clerk calls over an employee who walks with you to the right aisle and helps pick out the items you need. Five minutes, in and out, with exactly what Tom wanted.

Tom crawls back under the sink. It is a scene out of the movie A Christmas Story, when the father faces off with the furnace in the basement. The swear words fly. Tom's helper is Riley. Riley likes to toss out pithy comments that to me that would only aggravate me further had they been directed at me rather than his father, About how "we should have hired a plumber, the job would have been done more easily. A plumber would know what to do." I am guessing with Tom's head under the sink, he was missing the commentary above, Because had he heard the comments, Riley would have not looked so blissful. As it was Tom would call out crankily for Riley to hold the nozzle still so Tom could tighten it down under the sink as he swore and dropped the screw behind his head.

Riley would lose interest and try to wonder off back upstairs. With me home though, I stood and watched and every time Riley began to step away from our vigil by the sink, I would murmur "Not until your father is done installing". No wonder it wasn't finished until after I got home. Tom's helper kept drifting off to other areas, and Tom needed a runner to Ace for those little parts to make his job easier.

I made another trip to Ace for a copper pressure clamp and then the instant hot was working. It only took two trips to Ace. It is worth the extra miles as they are so helpful and walk you through the store to exactly what you need.

If you have ever had a home with an instant hot, you know you can't live without them. You just don't know what you are missing if you haven't had one. Of course you need to know we are instant coffee drinkers, and hot cocoa for the boys, too impatient in the mornings to do the whole grind and percolate. Instant hot is just that, instant hot. The hole was already built into our kitchen sink so why not.

So my two biggest irritants are taken care of today. The computer has sound and the instant hot is installed and working. I still need word processing, but I will do that another day. Now Trevor and I are off to the symphony while Tom gets to watch uninterrupted playoff football. Riley gets to relax and do what ever.